On This Day 2026
Hello, … Welcome to day 30 of the year.

Friday, January 30th

Today is National Draw a Dinosaur Day, National Fun at Work Day, National Croissant Day and National Escape Day. Your star sign is Aquarius and your birthstone is Garnet.
1969 – The Beatles made a media splash when they played an unannounced gig on the roof of the Apple Corps building in London. The lunchtime set marked the legendary band’s final live performance.
The Beatles made a media splash when they played an unannounced gig on the roof of the Apple Corps building in London. The lunchtime set marked the legendary band’s final live performance.
Famous deaths
2018 – Chas Hodges (b. 1943), English musician and singer. He was the lead vocalist, pianist and guitarist of the musical duo Chas & Dave.
Today’s birthdays
1937 – Vanessa Redgrave (89), English actress (The Whistleblower, Mary, Queen of Scots, Deep Impact), born in Blackheath, London.
1951 – Phil Collins (75), English singer-songwriter, musician (“In the Air Tonight”, “Against All Odds”) and actor (Buster), born in Chiswick, London.
1959 – Jody Watley (67), American singer with Shalamar (“A Night To Remember”), born in Chicago, Illinois, United States.
1974 – Olivia Coleman (52), English actress (The Crown, Broadchurch, The Iron Lady, Peep Show), born in Norwich, Norfolk.
1974 – Christian Bale (52), British actor (The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises, American Psycho, Ford v Ferrari), born in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, Wales.
1981 – Peter Crouch (45), English former professional footballer (Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, Stoke City, England National Team), born in Macclesfield, Cheshire.
Famous deaths
1948 – Mahatma Gandhi (b. 1869), Indian anti-colonial nationalist and political ethicist who lead the successful campaign for India’s independence from British rule.

2008 – Jeremy Beadle (b. 1948), English television presenter (Beadle’s About, You’ve Been Framed!) and radio presenter (Capital Radio with Beadle’s Odditarium).

2025 – Marianne Faithfull (b. 1946), English singer and actress who achieved popularity in the 1960s with the release of her UK top 10 single “As Tears Go By”.

The day today
1937 – The birth of the actress Vanessa Redgrave. She remains the only British actress ever to win the Oscar, Emmy, Tony, Cannes, Golden Globe, and the Screen Actors Guild awards. She was also the recipient of the 2010 BAFTA Fellowship ‘in recognition of an outstanding and exceptional contribution to film’.
1948 – The V Winter Olympic Games opened in St. Moritz, Switzerland (a location untouched by the war), marking the first Olympics held after World War II, symbolizing a return to peace and featuring 669 athletes from 28 nations in events like skiing, bobsleigh, and ice hockey.
1948 – Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated in the compound of Birla House (now Gandhi Smriti) in New Delhi. He was shot three times at point-blank range by Nathuram Godse, a 37-year-old Hindu extremist.
1959 – A severe, three-day dense smog hit London, Manchester, and Birmingham making driving impossible and halting public transport (except the Underground). Pollutant concentrations were higher than the first day of the 1952 Great Smog.

1965 – The state funeral, in London, of Sir Winston Churchill, former Prime Minister of Britain. It was the biggest state funeral of its kind since the burial of the Duke of Wellington in 1852. After his state funeral service, his body was taken by train to Bladon, Oxfordshire and there the private burial took place, conducted by the rector. By contrast with the earlier service, only relatives and close friends were present.

1972 – ‘Bloody Sunday’ in Londonderry, Northern Ireland. British paratroopers, believing they were under fire from Catholic protesters on a banned march which had become a violent riot, opened fire, killing 13 people.
1975 – Ernő Rubik applies for a patent for his “Magic Cube” invention, later to be known as a Rubik’s cube.
1979 – Varig Flight 967, a Boeing 707 cargo plane, disappeared 30 minutes after taking off from Tokyo’s Narita Airport, heading for Rio de Janeiro. The plane, its six crew members, and its valuable cargo of Manabu Mabe paintings were never found, making it one of aviation’s enduring mysteries. No wreckage, bodies, or clues were ever discovered despite extensive searches, leaving its fate unknown.
1992 – Inventor Ray Kurzweil publishes his first book “The Age of Intelligent Machines” on artificial intelligence, predicting the popularity of the internet. Kurzweil predicted in 1999 that computers would reach human-level intelligence by 2029.
2003 – British-born Richard Reid, known as the “Shoe Bomber,” was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences plus 110 years without parole for attempting to detonate explosives hidden in his shoes on American Airlines Flight 63 from Paris to Miami in December 2001, carrying 197 people.
2012 – London City trader Kweku Adoboli appeared in the dock at Southwark Crown Court accused of fraudulently gambling away a record £1.5bn whilst working for Swiss bank UBS. He was subsequently jailed for seven years after being found guilty of two counts of fraud.
2015 – Sir Jay Tidmarsh, Lord-Lieutenant of Bristol between 1996 and 2007, found an old school library book as he cleared his shelves. He decided to return the book to Taunton School, in Somerset, and made a £1,500 donation to the library in lieu of a fine for not returning the book for 65 years.
2019 – Scientists reveal the discovery of a cavity six miles long and 1,000 feet deep under Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica, leading to fears it might collapse and raise sea levels by two feet.
2020 – Coronavirus was declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern by the World Health Organisation at a meeting in Geneva. This status, the highest level of international public health alert, remained in effect for over three years.
Today in music
1961 – The Shirelles became the first all-girl black group to have a No.1 song on the US chart when ‘Will You Love Me Tomorrow?’ reached the top. The song peaked at No.4 in the UK.

1964 – The Searchers were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with the Sonny Bono song ‘Needles And Pins’. The group’s second UK No.1 had originally been recorded by Jackie DeShannon.

1969 – The Beatles made a media splash when they played an unannounced gig lasting 40 minutes on the roof of the Apple Corps building in London. The lunchtime set marked the legendary band’s final live performance. The impromptu concert was broken up by the police.
1970 – Edison Lighthouse were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes).’ The group’s only Top 40 hit spent five weeks at the top of the charts.In February 1970, Tony Burrows became the first (and still the only) person to appear on BBC Television’s Top Of The Pops fronting three different acts in one show: Edison Lighthouse (who were number one that week), White Plains, and Brotherhood of Man.
1972 – Paul McCartney wrote and recorded his protest song ‘Give Ireland Back To The Irish’ within 24 hours of Bloody Sunday, when 13 Catholics were killed by British paratroopers.
1973 – After recently changing their name from Wicked Lester, Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss made their first appearance as Kiss at the Popcorn Club in Queen’s, New York.
1975 – The Bee Gees begin recording ‘Jive Talkin’, which became their second US chart topper and No.5 UK hit. Barry Gibb’s inspiration for the song came when his wife commented on the sound their car made while crossing a bridge over Biscayne Bay into Miami. She noted, “It’s our drive talkin’.”
1988 – Tiffany was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘I Think We’re Alone Now’, the singers only UK No.1 single. The song was a hit for Tommy James & The Shondells in 1967.
1988 – During a court case involving Holly Johnson and ZTT Records it was revealed that Frankie Goes To Hollywood had not played on their hits ‘Relax’ and ‘Two Tribes’. The court was told that top-session musicians were used to make the records. ‘Relax’ eventually sold a reported two million copies in the UK alone, easily ranking among the ten Best Selling Singles in the UK.
1999 – After spending 11 weeks on the chart Britney Spears started a two-week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘…Baby One More Time.’ The song topped the charts in at least 23 countries and was the best-selling single of 1999. The song is one of the Best Selling Singles of all time, with over 10 million copies sold.
2000 – Gabrielle went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Rise’. The song used a sample from Bob Dylan’s ‘Knocking On Heaven’s Door’ giving Dylan his third UK No.1 as a writer, the other two being The Byrds version of ‘Mr Tambourine Man’ and Manfred Mann’s ‘The Mighty Quinn’.
2013 – Mick Jagger was named the most stylish rock star of all time by lifestyle website Complex. Jagger lead their top 50 list ahead of Prince, David Bowie, Kurt Cobain, Sid Vicious and Keith Richards. Complex stated, “Even today, he wears silk scarves and suits with more rakish appeal than most men – and he’s pushing 70.”
2025 – English singer, songwriter and actress Marianne Faithfull died age 78. The one time girlfriend of Mick Jagger achieved popularity in the 1960s with the release of her hit single ‘As Tears Go By’ (written by Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Rolling Stones’ manager Andrew Loog Oldham) and became one of the lead female artists during the “British Invasion” in the United States.
Today in history
1606 – Sir Everard Digby, Thomas Winter, John Grant and Thomas Bates who, along with others, had tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament in November 1605 were hanged, drawn and quartered for their part in the ‘Gunpowder Plot’.
1649 – The execution of King Charles I on a scaffold outside the Banqueting House in Whitehall, London. Following his death, the monarchy was abolished, and England became a republic (the Commonwealth) led by Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector.
1661 – Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland, was exhumed and formally executed, after having been dead for two years. Ironically, it took place on the anniversary of the execution of King Charles I, the monarch who Cromwell himself had deposed 12 years previously.
1736 – The birth of James Watt, Scottish inventor, mechanical engineer, and chemist who improved on Thomas Newcomen’s steam engine with his Watt steam engine in 1781. His engine was fundamental to the changes of the Industrial Revolution.
1790 – The first purpose-built lifeboat, The Original, was launched on the River Tyne at South Shields. The boat was 28 feet (8.5m) long and was rowed by up to 12 crew for whom cork life jackets were provided.
1826 – The opening of the Menai Bridge, the world’s first modern suspension bridge. It was designed by Thomas Telford and links North Wales to the island of Anglesey.